


One Short Kiss

by arcadesintheneighbourhood



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: F/M, Kissing, Love, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-08-25 21:03:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16668256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcadesintheneighbourhood/pseuds/arcadesintheneighbourhood
Summary: “But… maybe you’re right? I mean, kissing someone would bring an additional dimension of intimacy into Valentine’s Day… and that could potentially enhance one’s experience of love and therefore foster a greater appreciation for the holiday…”“Well, I could always kiss you and we could see if your Valentine’s Day is better.”The Good Place High School AU where Team Cockroach is in an ethics club, it’s Valentine’s Day, and Chidi and Eleanor keep finding excuses to kiss each other. Involves lots of good ol’ fanfic tropes.





	1. By the Lockers

**Author's Note:**

> A Valentine's Day fic near Thanksgiving, but I had this idea in my head and couldn't resist, especially after watching "The Worst Possible Use of Free Will"! I hope yall enjoy some cutesy Cheleanor and Student Council president Tahani Al-Jamil!

“What the hell is all this shit?” Eleanor cursed as she blew pink, purple, and red streamers out of her eyes. This had Tahani written all over it. Decorations draped in the doorway? Pink construction paper hearts tacked onto the walls? I mean, she knew her Student Council best friend went all out because she craved validation, but did she really have to be this extra? 

“Oh, hello, Eleanor!” Tahani greeted jovially as she brushed past. “Would you like a card and a lollipop for your Valentine’s Day?”

“No! Buzz off, gorgeous!” Eleanor turned around the corridor and held up her hand, waving off the wide smile Tahani gave her. 

“Eleanor, please!” Tahani called. “Are you least coming to the dance tonight with Jason, Janet, Chidi, and I-” 

“Nope! Have fun at your nerd event!” Eleanor yelled back. “Yeesh,” she muttered to herself. “Hopefully I can ignore this god forsaken holiday for the rest of the- oh, come on!” Eleanor groaned as she caught more sickly sights of her least favorite holiday down the hallway. Girls hunched together and touching knees, giggling as they jangled their candy bracelets. Drama geeks and poser nerds exchanging chocolate boxes and nuzzling noses. More of Tahani’s minions dazzling in bright sweaters, handing out drugstore lollipops tasting of cherry cough medicine. She hated the cheap candy, the public affection, the fake chocolate. She hated it all. She would’ve rather lived with Jason’s dumb Florida friends than ever to turn into one of those people who crooned over handwritten cards and chalky Sweethearts.

“Hey, Eleanor!” She heard once she reached her locker. Chidi Anagonye, her other best friend and ethics tutor, was already there, fidgeting with his hands and waiting for her. Goddamnit, he was so adorable. Instinctively, Eleanor bit the inside corners of her mouth to keep herself from breaking into a smile. 

It wasn’t like she had a crush on Chidi or anything. She just thought he was cute. Sure, she counted how many times the large, brown eyes under his too-thick glasses blinked, and sure, she fantasized what it would be like to kiss his full lips, but it wasn’t like she liked him. I mean, he wasn’t attractive at all. He wore dorky, button down shirts that covered the taut muscles of his chest and arms, the muscles Eleanor rubbed on days he forgot to take his stomach medication. But still, it wasn’t like she thought about his warm, gentle hands touching her, folding in hers, drawing her in closer by her waist, running down the skin of her bare back… 

(Okay, maybe she did.) 

(Okay, maybe she liked him a little.) 

(Okay, maybe she liked him a lot!) 

“Eleanor?” Chidi tilted his head in concern. He blinked twice. “You okay? You look a little dazed.” 

“Uh,” Eleanor cleared her throat. She had to snap out of it. “Yeah, man. Just got something in my eye. Anyways, what’s up?” 

“I just wanted to say Happy Valentine’s Day,” He presented Eleanor with a small, square package and a envelope. It was tied together with a curly blue ribbon and was assembled meticulously, in the true fashion of Chidi Anagonye, who instantly drew back to study Eleanor’s reaction.

“Oh,” Eleanor frowned as she gave it a perfunctory glance and tucked it in the empty water bottle pouch of her backpack. She was disappointed. She thought Chidi was going to tell her he had watched the Stone Cold Steve Austin videos she sent him, or that he had eaten a bucket of popcorn shrimp at her suggestion. “So you’re buying into this insane holiday too?” 

“You’re not going to open it?” Chidi arched his eyebrows at her.

“Nope!” Eleanor twisted her locker combination and swung the door open. “Valentine’s Day is for pricks who believe in love and being together forever and all kinds of junk like that. Having the parents I did, I’m too damaged for love, so the holiday’s pretty much a waste.” Eleanor quickly tossed her coat into her locker. 

“Really?” Chidi crossed his arms. “You don’t think there’s any kind of love worth celebrating? Even if it’s between friends?” 

“Nope!” Eleanor slammed her locker door closed and smirked up at Chidi. “Like I said, the whole holiday’s a waste. I mean, even the candy sucks. Fake chocolate and sweet chalk? Uh, no thank you, I’ll take a churro dog instead!” 

Chidi chuckled at her comment and shook his head.

“As impassioned as your plea for churro dogs is, I have to respectfully disagree.” 

“Oh, no, Chidi’s going into full philosopher mode…” 

“Well, it just so happens that the lesson I’ve organized in Ethics club today is about the different types of love,” Chidi’s eyes lit up as he launched into a full professor rant. Yikes, he was so freaking nerdy when he got like this (still, Eleanor had to avert her eyes down.. they were glimmering way too much at him for being so adorable) “Platonic, romantic… it’s all worth celebrating on Valentine’s Day.” 

“No, it’s not dude!” Eleanor cried. “Valentine’s Day is a sham! The only thing it’s good for is making out with people, because people feel so lonely on this made-up holiday, they’ll kiss anyone just to be near a warm body. Take last year for instance: I made out with Kylie Mansard, Chris Baker, and that hottie, Vicky Sengupta behind the bleachers after school because they were all so desperate, they wanted some Eleanor lip.” 

“You made out with Vicky Sengupta? From our ethics club? And you think she’s a hottie?” 

“Whatever, man!” Eleanor flushed. “The point is, Valentine’s Day is only good for making out with people.” 

“I mean, I don’t know. I’ve never made out with anyone on Valentine’s Day, and I’ve always liked it just fine.” But Chidi chewed his lip thoughtfully and pondered Eleanor’s stance. He set his hand under his chin and stroked it. “But… maybe you’re right? I mean, kissing someone would bring an additional dimension of intimacy into Valentine’s Day… and that could potentially enhance one’s experience of love and therefore foster a greater appreciation for the holiday…” 

“Well, I could always kiss you and we could see if your Valentine’s Day is better,” Eleanor quipped, snorting at her own stupid joke. 

“What?!” Chidi recoiled. 

Eleanor’s smile dropped. Oh god, she really should’ve known better. After three months of ethics club, she really should have known better. What was she thinking? She shouldn’t have joked about this kind of thing with Chidi, sweet, kind Chidi, who ground up thoughts in his head like a garbage disposal did with forks, who latched onto every little thing too seriously and mulled to the point of nervous breakdowns.

“Nah, nah, man, I’m just saying,” She back-tracked, laughing to hide the quiver in her voice. “I mean we’re best friends, we’re at a certain level of intimacy… if you wanted to test this theory and see if your Valentine’s Day could be improved by a kiss, who better than me, right?” 

“That is true,” Chidi agreed quietly. His eyes lowered to Eleanor’s mouth, and her throat parched from how focused he was on her lips. “It would be better than to kiss you than a total stranger.” 

“And it wouldn’t have to be a big thing, right?” Eleanor asked, voice flipping up as she tried to convince herself. “I mean, we could just kiss once, social experiment or whatever, and then go back to being best friends. No biggie.” 

“Um, yeah,” Chidi bobbed his head up and down. His eyes were still on Eleanor’s lips. “Social experiment.” 

“So um..” Eleanor twisted her hands together. She stepped closer to Chidi. “Can I kiss you?” 

“Yeah,” Chidi nodded. He inched closer to her. “Yeah.” 

Eleanor gulped. Oh god, Eleanor don’t be so nervous. It’s just one kiss. She gulped again. She laid her hands across Chidi’s shoulders and gently pivoted on her tiptoes to reach his lips. 

One, two, three. 

Okay, she had to move away now. She had to move away. Even though his lips were soft and warm and full and everything Eleanor had ever dreamed of. Even though all she wanted to do was angle her mouth down and bite his lower lip. She had to move away now. She had to move away. Reluctantly, she sunk down on the balms of her feet, lifting herself away from his mouth.

“See?” Eleanor played off lightly, but even with the chasteness of the kiss, she was shaking. Chidi was gazing down at her, his eyes wondered and wide in a way Eleanor had never seen before. “Just one short kiss, right?”

“Just one short kiss,” Chidi mumbled, but he lingered on her forehead. Eleanor lingered on his. Her hands were sliding across his shoulders and joining behind his neck and Chidi was drawing her closer by her waist and they were both leaning in to meet each other’s lips.

Before Eleanor could shift her mouth to get more of Chidi’s, he had already turned his to suck on her upper lip. Eleanor grinned and ran her tongue along Chidi’s bottom lip, curving herself into his body so her chest pressed into his. Chidi closed any remaining space by wrapping his arms around her back, and Eleanor spun him around in response, her heart quickening as Chidi changed the angle of his mouth again to deepen the kiss.

“Ow!” Chidi howled as his head banged against the lockers.

“Oh, no! Chidi!” Eleanor pulled herself from him and massaged the spot where his head hit the metal. “Are you okay? There’s not a bump on your head, is there?” 

“No, no, it’s fine,” Chidi insisted, though he winced at Eleanor’s touch. Eleanor examined his head herself and let out a breath. Oh good. No bumps. He didn’t get hurt here. 

“You’re okay,” Eleanor said fondly. She flicked her eyes back to him. Her lips were still tingling like crazy, and yet she wanted to kiss him again. She really wanted to kiss him again. 

But Chidi didn’t like her like that, she remembered sadly. This was just a social experiment. 

“Um,” Eleanor removed her hands from his head. She shoved them both in her back jean pockets. “We should probably get to first period, right?” 

“Yeah,” Chidi coughed. He licked his lips and wiped it with the lucky handkerchief he kept in his pocket. (Ugh, he really kept a lucky handkerchief in his pocket. He really was the cutest nerd.) “I think… that’s a good idea. Do you want me to walk you to English?” 

“Um, yeah!” Eleanor squeaked. Oh god, she couldn’t keep her cool. She was already touching her lips with her fingers and replaying the kiss again in her head. Chidi leaning in again. Angling his mouth. Pulling her closer by her waist. “I mean, if you want to. I don’t really care, man.” 

“I mean, it’s on my way to Latin, so I’ll just stroll along there with you!” 

“Sure, man, let’s stroll!” 

Oh, god, Eleanor thought as they matched their steps alongside the other, standing three feet apart. Lunchtime was going to be awkward. What were Jason and Tahani going to say? She glanced back at Chidi for a sense of normalcy, to see him internally freaking out about Latin or calculus or some other nerd crap like that, to know that it was just one short kiss and it meant nothing. 

But sure enough, as she looked over, she realized Chidi was thinking about it as much as she was. 

Because he was touching his lips, too.


	2. In the Cafeteria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Churro dogs, more kissing, and a heart-to-heart with Jason? Eleanor's in for a whirlwind and you will be, too!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent a lot of time on time chapter, and it definitely didn't come out perfect, but I hope you enjoy! This is the first time I've actually written more than one chapter of a multichap haha... look at me following through with something!

She couldn’t stop thinking about Chidi.

She was beaming all day: as Mr. Bambajan babbled about right angles, as Jason rambled about Janet’s Valentine’s Day gift, as Gunnar freaked out about their group project. She wanted to see him so badly. She cursed herself for not being smarter, otherwise she could watch him all day... the intent way he scrawled notes, the adorable way his index finger pushed his glasses up, the nervous manner he clenched his lucky bookmark.

She kept checking her phone for messages. Usually, she texted Chidi out of boredom, and he chastised her lack of attention during class. Still, he always, always messaged where to meet so they could walk to the cafeteria together. Sometimes, he even sent her emojis of what food he packed for them to share. But there were no texts from him. Zilch. Zero.

Eleanor refreshed her messages. Nope. Nothing.

Eleanor’s heart sank as she headed to the cafeteria. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he wasn’t as into the kiss as she thought.

Oh, fuck. If it was all a fluke that meant she was the vulnerable one. She was going to get her feelings hurt.

Ugh! That meant she would have to awkwardly trudge through the next half an hour, straining her eyes from Chidi’s and scoffing her feelings away.

This is why feelings were the _worst._

Eleanor silently dreaded the meal as she grabbed a tray and waited in the lunch line. It didn’t help that the Valentine’s Day spirit was worse in the cafeteria. Red glitter was sprinkled across the dilapidated tables. Sketches of cupid and St. Valentine were strewn across the walls. To top it all off, the acapella group was swarming around and serenading tables with a horrible rendition of “Hit Me with Your Best Shot.”

It all made Eleanor want to retch all over the floor.

“Hey!” A warm hand brushed against her shoulder. Eleanor groaned. She was _not_ in a good mood. What did someone want now? She spun around, exasperated, only to meet a set of kind, gentle eyes.

Chidi. The swelling of a smile snuck up at the corners of her mouth. He came.

“Did you get my texts?” He was licking his lips apprehensively. Gosh, he was so cute when he was nervous. Well, he was cute all the time, especially today, in his pink button-down shirt and his dorky khakis and his too thick glasses that-

“Eleanor? Did you get my texts?”

Oh, shoot. He was talking to her.

Eleanor snapped herself out of her swooning and pulled herself together.

“Your texts?”

“Yeah. See?” Chidi pulled out his phone and clicked on Eleanor’s name. A series of blue messages, all marked with red exclamation marks, trailed under the thread.

“Hey! Just wondering if you opened my card yet? It’s okay if you didn’t, I was just wondering.”

“Meet in the math wing to walk to lunch?”

“I made us churro dogs 🌭 and cookies 🍪”

“They must not have sent last period,” Chidi frowned. “Sorry, I should’ve reminded you this morning I had biology lab...”

“Oh, biology lab!” Eleanor smacked her forehead. She had been so consumed by their kiss, she completely forgot that Chidi had biology lab! He hadn’t been avoiding her, he just had crappy service downstairs in the science wing! “Doy! You had to dissect a frog today! You were freaking out it on the phone last night! Ahhh, I’m sorry, Chidi!”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Chidi said gingerly. “Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

Eleanor softened as she looked up at him. How was he always so good to her, even when she was a pain? She touch his shoulder in gratitude, and he licked his lips at her graze. Running her hands down his chest, she began moving closer and closer and... Oh, shit! She shook herself out of it and pulled away. What the hell was she doing?  She wasn’t supposed to be this close to him, no matter how much he made her want to be.

“Um, anyway,” She tucked her hair behind her ears and set her lunch tray back on top of the stack. “How was dissecting the frog? You don’t look like you fainted, so I’m assuming that’s a good sign?”

“I didn’t,” Chidi ducked his head down and chuckled. “But I was disgusted by how slimy and gross it was... yeah, it just confirmed that I’ll probably stick to teaching ethics.”

“Hey dude, you’re good at it,” Eleanor punched him lightly on the shoulder. “No reason to change fields. I mean, you’ll obviously be the best professor in the world if you can teach me and Jason.”

“Thank you,” Chidi shot her a wide grin. "That's really nice, Eleanor."

Bashfully, Eleanor rocked on her feet, rifling her mind for other topics that didn’t end by showering with Chidi with compliments.

“Hold on,” She abandoned not praising Chidi after remembering a text he showed her. “Did you really buy churros to make churro dogs?”

“Oh, no, don’t worry,” Chidi reassured. “I just made them at home.”

“You made churros at home?” Eleanor’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. “And it wasn’t a complete disaster?”

“No, no! Well, yes, I technically burn them the first time around, but,” Chidi shrugged. “It’s okay. I know how much you’ve been missing Arizona, and I’ve always wanted to try them.”

“Chidi,” Eleanor said softly. Her hand found her way back to his chest. He was running his tongue along his lips again. She couldn’t stand it. Who the hell was she kidding? There was no way she could go through the rest of lunchtime avoiding him, pretending the kiss meant nothing to her. She wanted him so badly again, and if it weren’t so complicated, she would definitely find an excuse to kiss him again..

Oh, _screw it._ Being in the Ethics Club had changed her, but not that much. What would another kiss hurt?

“Um, you know, so I was thinking...” Eleanor twirled her fingers. She flicked her eyes to the floor as she drummed up courage for her next statement. “With you hitting your head and all, we never got to finish our kiss.”

“We didn’t, did we?” Chidi raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, and I mean, if we don’t,” Eleanor inhaled. “It’ll skew the results of our experiment, right?”

“It will,” Chidi was inching himself towards Eleanor. They were so close, their fingertips were grazing.

“And we don’t want that to happen, right?” Chidi glided his hand across hers, and Eleanor almost fainted from his touch.

“That would just mean we’re bad academics!” She cried, her voice cracking. “And since I’m going to be a professor.. I, um, don’t want to jeopardize, um... my reputation for, um... any future studies I might conduct...”

Chidi’s eyes fixated on Eleanor’s mouth. His justification for finishing the kiss fell from him. His pupils dilated, and his hands were sweating, and it almost thrilled Eleanor to realize she wanted this as much as she did.

She slipped her fingers out of his and tilted his chin back to her eyes.

“Go ahead, Chidi,” Eleanor invited. She stepped closer to him, tracing her lips with her tongue. “My lips are right here.”

Eleanor didn’t have to tell him twice. As soon as she gave him the go ahead, Chidi swept her closer and parted his lips. Eleanor, shocked and pleased, let out a little sound. She opened her mouth and circled her arms around his neck. They were so much better this time- they were hotter and faster and more coordinated. They were turning their heads and shifting their mouths and taking turns being in control- first, Eleanor was sucking on Chidi’s lower lip, then Chidi was sucking on Eleanor’s, then Chidi was yanking her closer and raking his hands up and down her back as they kissed.

“God, you two, get a room!” Vicky yelled from behind. Eleanor and Chidi both turned around to give Vicky the stink eye. Eleanor snarled. Yeah, she was a great makeout, but she had gotten so irritating over the past year, especially since she had gotten the lead in the school musical.

“We should probably get out of the lunch line anyway,” murmured Chidi. Eleanor nodded and took Chidi’s hand. Chidi grasped it firmly, eyes gleaming as he lead her to their table. They kept kissing as they stumbled their way there- Eleanor pecked Chidi’s cheeks, then Chidi trailed his way up Eleanor’s neck, then Eleanor found herself back at Chidi’s mouth, crashing down with him in his chair as they resumed their kissing. He slipped his tongue in Eleanor’s mouth, and she sighed and pressed her lips harder against his. She was getting hotter and hotter by the second, slipping his tongue into his mouth and grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and hiking her legs up to wrap them around his-

“Looks like you two are rather comfy,” a smug British voice interrupted. Tahani. Oh, shit.

“Yeah, Chidi!” Jason cheered as he and Tahani sat down. “You finally worked up th- uff! Hey, why did you hit me so hard, Tahani?”

Eleanor and Chidi both froze. Fuck. Caught in the act by their friends. Now they would never hear the end of it. This was almost worse than what Eleanor imagined before. What were they supposed to do now?

 _Okay, act nonchalant,_  Eleanor decided as she rolled off of Chidi’s lap. Just pretend that it was no big deal, social experiment, yada yada yada. She was still an expert at lying, right?

“Oh, calm down you two,” Eleanor played off while Chidi smoothed the ruffles in his shirt. From the corner of her eye, she saw Chidi take out his handkerchief and wipe his mouth. God, it really shouldn't have been, but it was still so freaking cute. “Chidi and I were just doing a social experiment.”

“A social experiment?” Tahani asked skeptically, her eyebrows raised. “With your tongues shoved down each other’s throats like that?”

“Tahani, they could’ve been trying to find treasure down there!” Jason shouted as he munched on a bag of potato chips “Ohhhhh, did you get lucky?”

“No, Jason. What?” She exchanged a look with Chidi while he removed two foil-wrapped churro dogs and two cookies from his lunchbox. He gave a little nod as if to agree, _we’re on the same page_ , before sliding her lunch over to her.

“Chidi’s never kissed anyone on Valentine’s Day before, so I said we could kiss and it could be a little experiment, like whether getting some action makes everything, including stupid holidays like Valentine’s Day, 100 times better.”

“So you’re kissing to prove a point? Not because of,” Tahani directed her gaze at Chidi “Shall we say, any other events that may happen in the day?”

“Any other events?” Eleanor laughed. “Tahani what are you-”

“Hey!!!” Chidi yelled. “You know what we should talk about instead? Anything else!”

“What’s the matter with you, bud?” Eleanor asked while he fumbled with the foil for his churro dog. Huh. Chidi seemed awfully on edge. And that was saying something, he was always on edge.

“Nothing! I’m fine! I just, you know, why are we talking so much about me and you?”  Chidi released a high-pitched laugh. “What about Tahani and Jason? How are they doing? What’s up with them?”

“Oh! Well, Dance Dance Resolution and I are performing a dance to ‘Digital Get Down’ as my Valentine’s Day gift to Janet!” Jason enthused. “If you want, you can go over and watch with her! We’ll be in the auditorium after ethics club.”

“Oh, Janet will love that, Jason,” Chidi encouraged. “I'm excited to see it.”

Eleanor stole a glance at Chidi. How was he so kind? She could barely get through one second of Jason talking about his dance, and here he was, offering him support and going so far to as to attend.

“Oh, I’m sorry Jason,” Tahani apologized. “I’m afraid I have to go straight to the gymnasium to decorate for the dance tonight, which I’m very excited for!” Tahani clapped. “Oh! It’s going to be the dance of the century, much better than the other Kamilah planned for Will and Kate last fall. Oh, Eleanor, I know you don’t want to, but you must come! It's going to be the talk of the town! Or in this case, mediocre school!”

“I’m afraid no can do, gorgeous,” Eleanor bowed her head in between bites of churro dog. “Even if I wanted to attend the dance for some insane reason, I’m working a double shift tonight.”

“You are?” Chidi deflated. He set down his food and drooped his head. “I-I-didn’t know this.” 

“Sorry, Chidi, I thought I mentioned it last night,” She touched her hand to hers. It killed her to see him so upset. I mean, she didn’t know why he was so sad, maybe because his mom said she always looked forward to having Eleanor over for dinner every night, but still, she hated seeing him so down. It was her least favorite thing in the world- even worse than all the Spiderman movies combined.

“Don’t worry," Eleanor smoothed her thumb over Chidi's knuckles. He looked back up as she ran it back and forth along his fingers. "I’ll come over for dinner tomorrow. I promise.”

"Okay," Chidi said tenderly, shifting his hand to weave his fingers in hers. Eleanor beamed at him and squeezed his hand.

“Seriously!” Tahani cried, breaking their gaze from each other. “What is wrong with you two?”

Eleanor and Chidi both blinked. What the heck was she getting in such a huff about?

“Oh, never mind,” She grumbled. “Just go back to eating your commoner’s food."

***

“Hey, Eleanor?” Jason piped up as he and Eleanor walked to history after lunch. They trailed behind Tahani, Chidi, and Tahani’s girlfriend, Simone, who were rushing through the halls to get to their economics quiz next period. “What’s going on with you and Chidi?”

“Bro,” Eleanor choked out a laugh, though she knew it didn’t sound convincing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, there’s nothing going on between me and Chidi.”

“I mean, you always make him really happy. And he always makes you really happy. And whenever you’re around each other, your eyes get all mushy and soft, like how Pillboi looks when he stares at the alligators after he’s taken a lot of pills. You see, he’s named Pillboi because-”

“It’s okay, buddy, you don’t have to explain it to me, just get to the point.”

“I just don’t get it, yo,” Jason sighed. “I mean, I’ve been in the ethics club longer than you, when they made me join last fall after I vandalized the vice principal’s car with the stolen spray paint Donkey Doug got from that factory he robbed, but Chidi was never that happy before you came. He was so boring, yo, he was always talking about Airtotle or Socatties or, who’s that other dude’s name?”

“I don’t know, buddy,” Eleanor patted Jason on the back. Oh, Jason.

“Anyway, I guess what I’m trying to say is, why are you making up ‘Socal experiments’ just to make out with each other? You should just tell him how you feel.”

Eleanor pursed her lips and pondered for a moment. He had a good point. Why didn’t she tell Chidi how she felt? She normally wasn’t afraid of that kind of thing. She wasn’t a fearful kind of person. She always wore her feelings on her sleeve, sprung into action, cut the bullshit and never looked back. She didn’t hide behind “social experiments” to make out with the person she was into. She never had. So why did the thought of being with Chidi make her so vulnerable and afraid that she had to conjure up excuses to get closer to him?

“Honestly, Jason, I don’t know if I’m good enough for him, yet. You know?" confessed Eleanor. I mean, Chidi is so smart and kind and selfless and gentle and I just... I’m not there yet. If we were to be together, he deserves to be with the best possible version of myself. And honestly, I just...” Eleanor swallowed. “I just don’t know if I can ever become that.”

“Hey, you are the best version of yourself, dawg,” Jason bumped her shoulder. “You always help me when I’m confused about how to be a good boyfriend to Janet, and you cheer up Tahani when her parents are mean to her, and you even help Michael organize files and stuff after meeting sometimes. You are so much more awesome than you think. So don’t doubt yourself, homie. You’re great!”

“Thanks, Jason,” Eleanor gave her idiot friend a small smile. He may be a dummy, but he sure was sweet. And maybe sometimes he was right, too, like when he argued about basic consequentialism in ethics club last week. And maybe, just maybe, he was right about this. Maybe she was better than she thought. Maybe, somehow, she did deserve Chidi. “Maybe I will talk to Chidi about how I feel. Not today, but sometime... maybe...”

“Alright!” Jason whooped. “Eleanor getting it! Look at how we do it, folks!” Jason gestured to her as they rounded the corner to the classroom. “Eleanor Shellstrop gets on her shit!”

“Oh, shut up, Jason,” She said, but Eleanor leaned her shoulder on his.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“I got you, homie,” he whispered back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! Eleanor and Chidi are going to be VERY cute in the next chapter, just warning (and it may involve something about the Valentine's Day dance... hmmm we'll see..) Thanks so much for reading and feel free to leave a comment down below! :)

**Author's Note:**

> This is part 1 of a 3 part series, so stay tuned! :) Let me know what you think in the comment section below!


End file.
